2014 Senior Design and Capstone Projects

Golf Flow - Development of Venturi Vacuum Pump for Retraction of Golf Balls from Diverse Golf Course HazardsMargaret Osmulski (ME), Fred Wedley (ME), Mitchell Bell (ME), Frank Carnovale (EE)Advisor: Dr. MascarenhasThe team has recognized the market potential for a cost-effective and efficient device that can retrieve golf balls that are lost underwater. The design uses pumps to provide low-velocity flow from an inlet head to a discharge head.

High-Speed Production Track Development for Automated Manufacturing Material Flow DeliveryJoseph Mastroluca (ME), Alex Peras (ME), Brendan Peters (EE), Diego Mamani (EE)Advisor: Dr. Denenberg. Mentor/Sponsor: George Warman (Energizer-Schick)This project designs and develops a cost effective, off-the-shelf, sustainable control for a manufacturing system vehicle. Two different designs are being implemented for prototyping. The first uses a programmable logic controller (PLC); the second uses a microcontroller, and will be implemented as a backup design. Co-sponsored by Energizer-Schick.

Robot Assisted Ribbon BendingNicole D'Addio (ME), Rema Bhatti (EE), Darren Mondezie (EE)Advisor: Dr. Hadjimichael, Mentor/Sponsor: Rich Rosselli (Northeast Laser)This project consists of an industrial/automation design in which the components of electro-mechanical systems are used to create an efficient way for bending small metallic ribbons needed for a biomedical device. The design integrates a Mitsubishi Robot and visual recognition algorithm via Cognex camera to create an autonomous process. The project is co-sponsored by the Northeast Laser Company.

SpinLeaf - Electric Powered Greens Spinner for Small Scale Farming OperationsSharoz Seyal (ME), Colin Nerich (ME), Robert Governale (EE), Claudele Pierre (ME)Advisor: Dr. Reckinger. Mentor: Fred Monahan (Stone Garden farm)SpinLeaf is designing and building an Electric Greens Spinner for Stone Gardens Farm, a small-scale family farm in Shelton, CT. One of the farm’s important and time-consuming tasks is the process of cleaning the loose leaf greens. The main function of the new apparatus will be to not only dry, but also clean the greens, all in one cycle. The new model will be made of food safe material, and include safety features not present on the current model.

Development of Advanced Carbon Fiber Impact Absorption Structure for Formulae F Race CarSlawek Guzierowicz (ME), Eric Stephen (ME), Timothy Young (ME), Christopher Smith (ME)Advisor: Prof. Steve RouxEach year there are multiple crashes in racing that devastate the racing community. A front impact attenuator absorbs the energy of the crash to minimize the amount of energy absorbed by the driver. This team designs, develops, and fabricates a compact lightweight impact attenuator to be integrated into a Formulae F race car.

EMduino - Development of a Miniature Wireless Powering DeviceRichard Howley (EE), Brian Arpie (CE), Rich Kovach (CE), Arodi Cruz (CE)Advisor: Dr. Lyon, Mentor: Mr. Hugh FullmanArduino embedded microcontrollers represent a top interface contender in the future quantified world of sensors. EMduino is a modular add-on shield focused on providing energy to Arduino shield compatible products through smart ultra low power harvesting. Solar energy is harvested and stored in a robust manner using super capacitors; an onboard communication module allows the collected to data to be wirelessly transferred to a secondary base station Arduino where it may be processed and utilized.